1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a server, a printing system, a control method for the printing apparatus, and a storage medium storing a control program therefore, which are used to execute printing. Particularly, the present invention relates to the printing system that executes printing using the server on a network when the printing apparatus executes printing according to a print job generated by an information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when an information processing apparatus like a host computer sends a print job to a printing apparatus like a printer device to execute printing, it is necessary to install software such as a printer driver to the host computer. At the side of the host computer, various items related to printing, for example, a sheet size, the number of copies, a layout, etc. are set up using the printer driver (print setting).
Incidentally, when printing with application software that operates on the host computer, the execution of the print setting generates a print job having the print setting concerned on the host computer. The host computer sends the print job to the printing apparatus, and then, the printing apparatus generates an image (printing data) according to the print setting that the print job concerned has and prints the image.
It should be noted that some printers print images (printing data) that are generated in the host computer and have been transmitted as print jobs.
A typical and well used print setting is beforehand set as an initial state in the printer driver installed in the host computer. Generally, this is called a default setting.
However, some users always want to use a specific print setting rather than the default setting. In this case, since the users need to change the default setting whenever they instruct printing, the printing will be very troublesome.
Accordingly, an operating system (OS) has a function (a print setting holding function) to hold the print setting used for the printing as a general print setting in preparation for the case where a user would like to apply a different print setting from the default setting by the printer driver. It should be noted that the OS used here is the Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corp., for example.
The above-mentioned print setting holding function enables the user to always print with the general print setting without changing the print setting whenever an application program issues the print instruction.
Some application programs, which are provided with print buttons, execute printing when the user pushes the print buttons even if the user does not instruct printing using the print setting screens that are provided by the printer drivers.
There is a technique that enables to change the print setting information that the print driver holds without opening the print setting screen in order to improve user's convenience (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-49950 (JP 2005-49950A)).
Incidentally, a server on a network like the Internet may perform at least a part of an image forming process rather than only a printing device performs the image generation process (printing process) in recent years. Particularly, what is called cloud computing is known as service by which the server on the network performs a part of the image generation process.
When using a cloud computing environment for a printing environment, a device such as a printing apparatus supports only a basic function about printing. And the server on the network (the server is also referred to as a cloud, hereinafter) supports an additional function (an extended function). The use of the cloud computing environment enables to constitute the device like the printing apparatus at low cost and to construct the printing environment that adds the extended functions to the device.
Even if the cloud computing environment is used, the host computer generates the basic setting UI (user interface) screen about the above-mentioned basic function and displays it on a display.
In this case, an extended setting UI screen about the extended function is generated as an HTML file by the cloud. Then, the host computer displays this extended setting UI screen as one screen of the printer driver by a Web browser function.
It should be noted that the basic setting UI screen and the extended setting UI screen may be collectively called print setting UI screens.
As mentioned above, the printer driver that operates on the host computer holds the print setting set up once on the host computer. Therefore, when the print setting UI screen is displayed, the print setting that has set up at the last time is displayed.
When the printing is executed without opening the print setting UI screen (without displaying), the printing is executed with the print setting concerned.
However, the host computer holds only a basic setting (a basic print setting) that uses the basic function. Concerning an extended setting (an extended print setting) that uses the extended function, the host computer merely displays the extended setting UI screen generated by the cloud as the Web browser. The host computer does not hold the extended setting. Therefore, there is a problem that the print setting returns to the default setting after the printing even if the extended setting is performed with the extended setting UI screen.
Therefore, after printing with a certain extended print setting, even if the user wants to print with the same print setting, the user must perform the extended print setting at every printing. When the application program, which can instruct printing without displaying the print setting UI screen containing the print button, is used, the printing is always executed with the default setting.